Pneumatic actuators, usually cylinders, are widely used in factory floor automation. Lately, robotics as well is starting to use pneumatics as a main motion power source. One of the major attractions about pneumatics is the low weight and the inherent compliant behavior of its actuators. Compliance is due to the compressibility of air and, as such, can be influenced by controlling the operating pressure. This is an important feature whenever there is an interaction between man and machine or when delicate operations have to be carried out (e.g. handling of fragile objects). Thanks to compliance a soft touch and safe interaction can be easily guaranteed. Hydraulic and electric drives, in contrast, have a very rigid behavior and can only be made to act in a compliant manner through the use of relatively complex feedback control strategies. Several types of pneumatic actuators—e.g. cylinders, bellows, pneumatic engines and even pneumatic stepper motors—are commonly used to date. A less well-known type is that of the so-called Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs). These are in fact inverse bellows, i.e. they contract on inflation. Their force is not only dependent on pressure but also on their state of inflation, which makes for a second source of spring-like behavior. They are extremely lightweight because their core element is but a membrane, and yet, they can transfer the same amount of energy as cylinders do, since they operate at the same pressure ranges and volumes. For these reasons they carry a great potential to be used to power mobile robots, where they have additional advantages, such as direct connection, easy replacement and safe operation, as will be seen later.

What does a natural muscle do?

It is a contractile organ.
It consists of fibers which “actuate” force and motion in response to nervous stimulation. Muscles are simply transducers
They change the chemo-electric signal from nerves to mechanical energy How does it work?
Muscles contract by the chemo-mechanical action of the proteins actin and myosin. Joints of the body are arrayed such that they comprise muscles which oppose each other.

Air Muscle General Overview

• The Air Muscle is an extraordinary actuator that is small, light, simple and 'friendly'. It is soft, has no stiction, is easily controllable and exceptionally powerful.

• The Air Muscle consists of a rubber tube covered in tough plastic netting which shortens in length like a human muscle when inflated with compressed air at low pressure.

• An Air Muscle has a power-to-weight ratio as high as 400:1, vastly outperforming both pneumatic cylinders and DC motors that can attain a ratio of only about 16:1. It has been in continuous development for advanced robotics work by Shadow since 1982, and is now available for use in a variety of applications as a powerful, lightweight actuator. Air Muscles are normally operated using compressed air in the 0-70psi (0-5 bar) range.

• The Shadow Air Muscle is a simple yet powerful device for providing a pulling force. It behaves in a very similar way to a biological muscle. When actuated with a supply of compressed air, they contract by up to 40% of its original length. The force it provides decreases as it contracts, and the first few percent of the contraction is very powerful indeed.

• The simplest use of a muscle is to move a lever. One muscle will pull the lever in one direction, and a spring can return it. Two muscles will allow the lever to be pulled in either direction, with considerable force. Because the muscle contracts over a known distance, it can be used to provide a safe movement: there is no need to ensure that the lever is not going to be rotated beyond its end-stop, because the muscle will only move the lever to its set up angle.

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Herbert DeRama
Jeff Roberts
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Ohlone College
When most people want to work on their stomach muscles, their main focus would typically be concentrated on the middle part of their belly, the rectus abdominis. This would be the part of your stomach that creates those six pack abs that everybody wants to have. Girls love how ripped abs look and men desperately try to attain it. The physical appearance component of having nice stomach muscles is indeed a good trait to have, but this is only a small proportion of what the core muscles can actually do. It is important not only having strong abs and mid-section, but to also have a strong core overall. People misinterpret the meaning in having a strong central core and fail to recognize the importance of what the core can actually do for oneself, besides making you look good in a swimsuit. In fact, possessing a strong core can be beneficial for people in everyday life situations and it plays an essential role in enhancing physical performance.
The core is not as simple as people see it to be. There are many muscles that make up the composition of the core group. These muscles are not just limited to the abdomen section of the body that most people perceive. The core is composed of the obliques and lower back, aside from the abdominals and they are all connected to different...

...Muscular System: Muscle Metabolism
1. List the three roles of ATP in muscle contraction:
1. _Energize the power stroke of the myosin cross bridge.
2. _Disconnecting the myosin head from the binding site on actin at the conclusion of a power stroke.
3. _Energizing the calcium ion pump.
2. The potential energy in ATP is released when the terminal high-energy bond is broken by a process called hydrolysis.
Write the end products of this process: ATP (+ H2O) ( ADP
3. Rebuilding ADP into ATP with a new source of energy is carried out by a process called dehydration synthesis.
Write the equation for this process: ADP ( ATP (+ H2O)
4. List the three processes used to synthesize additional ATP when ATP supplies are low:
1. Hydrolysis of creatine phosphate
2. Glycolysis
3. The Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation
5. An immediate source of energy is creatine phosphate (CP), but the supplies are limited and rapidly depleted.
One molecule of CP produces one ATP.
6. Glucose is a major source of energy for synthesizing ATP. List the two sources of glucose:
1. Glucose enters the muscle cell directly from the blood.
2. Glucose is produced by hydrolysis of glycogen stored in the muscle cell.
7. Glycolysis is the process that breaks down glucose.
Name two products of the breakdown of glucose:
1....

...of Quadriceps Muscle and Extension of Leg
Abstract1
The purpose of the Patellar reflex lab was to observe the effect of central nervous system influence on reflex amplitude. My hypothesis was a reflex with reinforcement would have a greater Max of (mV). In this lab we attached three electrode tabs to the leg and connected them to a EKG Sensor. Next we swung a reflex hammer in contact with the patellar tendon and observed the results without reinforcement and then with reinforcement. Our results showed that the reflex reinforcement had the highest results over without reinforcement. In conclusion our results showed that focusing on the hammer swing created a lesser reflex, while focusing on another part of the body allowed for a greater reflex.
Introduction
In purpose of this lab was to observe the effect of central nervous system influence on reflex amplitude, associate muscle activity with involuntary activation, and obtain graphical representation of electrical activity of a muscle activated by a reflex arc through nerves and form the spinal cord. My hypothesis for this lab was the mV maximum would be with reinforcement. My rationale for my hypothesis was when arms are clenched there will be an increased muscle tone in the rest of your body, therefore on your muscle spindle. The musclemuscle fibers will contract even more due to the spindle fibers already...

...Title:
Muscle twitch response and recruitment, summation and tetanus
Exercise 1: The effects of nerve stimulation
Objectives:
1. To explore the motor and sensory effects of electrical stimuli on a
student volunteer, using the nerves of the forearm.
2. To examine the position where a largest muscular twich response with
the lowest pulse current can be generated. This position is kept
constant to determine results in exercises 2 and 3.
Procedure:
Refer to Human Biology Practical Manual
Results:
The position giving the largest muscular twitch response with the lowest pulse current can be generated.
Questions:
A. Describe briefly what you have done for this section. (maximum
100 words)
Powerlab unit is used as a stimulator. Instead of recording, muscular
responses are observed by watching hand of volunteer. Stimulus
Isolator command is chosen and the settings are set in effect. The
stimulator is switched off to disconnect the Isolated Stimulator
terminals. The Start button in the Chart View is then clicked. The bar
stimulus electrode is placed correctly over the volunteer’s ulnar nerve
at the wrist. The Stimulator is switched on. Twitch contractions
affecting thumb and fingers are observed. Small adjustments to
placing of electrodes are done and position giving the largest twitches
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B. What are the observations that...

...research
1How do muscles get the energy they need to work
All muscles need ATP (ATP is a ‘energy currency’) most of these cell reactions rely on the breakdown of ATP the ways to get atp are to react anaerobically or aerobically. The “ reactions form energy in the format of ATP’’
ATP (also known as adenosine tri-phosphate) is produced. Respiration is conducted from the cell membranes inside the mitochondria. Aerobic respiration provides a lot of energy needed per molecule of glucose (the level of ATP produced can be as high as 38 ATP molecules per 1 molecule of glucose. When the body is exercising intensely respiration happens faster and the muscles need more oxygen. Anerobic respiration uses a reaction of glucose and water to make energy it creates by-products of water and carbon dioxide (glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water (+ ATP or C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O) There will come a point when aerobic respiration isn’t enough, the body needs to respire anaerobically. In this glucose is directly broken down ion to ATP by the body this creates a byproduct of lactic acid. (glucose → lactic acid (+ energy released). Aerobic respiration will produce a lot less energy per molecule of glucose This can be best illustrated with the fact that during the anaerobic respiration only two molecules of ATP are yielded for one glucose molecule.
2 the dictionary definition for muscle fatigue is
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...Christopher Couchell
Muscle Physiology
Purpose:
The Purpose of this exercise is to understand how muscle twitch, contract and react to different activities.
Exercise 1: Muscle Twitch
A. What is a muscle twitch?
A muscle twitch is the fasciculation , or "muscle twitch", is a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction and relaxation visible under the skin.
B. According to the graphs, which muscle has the fastest twitch? Why?
The lateral rectus eye muscle has the fastest twitch. It has the shortest latent period, or the shortest period of time between the stimulus and its response.
C. What is the latent period and why does it occur?
The latent period is the first stage of a muscle twitching. It is the time that elapses between the stimulus and its response.
Exercise 2: Treppe
A. Why is treppe an important phenomenon for athletes to understand?
The phenomenon in which the contraction strength of a muscle increases, due to increased calcium availability and enzyme efficiency during the warm-up. An athlete can perform better when he or she knows when her performance will peak. In this case the muscle will reach its maximum potential after a warm-up.
B. Physiologically, what causes treppe to occur?
A treppe occurs when more forcefully after it has contracted a few times then when...